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September 21, 2010

G151: Orioles 9, Red Sox 1

Marco Scutaro dropped an easy popup that should have been the final out of the sixth inning. Instead, the ball fell and Baltimore got an unearned run off Buchholz (6-4-1-3-5, 112) to tie the game.

The Orioles scored three quick runs against Scott Atchison in the seventh when Ty Wigginton's home run sailed just fair past the Pesky Pole. The game was pretty much out of reach at that point at 4-1 -- but Baltimore felt like having more fun, so they tacked on another four runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-3, so New York leads the East by 2.5 games. Boston remains 6.5 GB Tampa Bay in the WC with 11 to play.

1958 - The Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Senators, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0, at Fenway Park. In today's game, after being called out on strikes with two men on to end the third inning, Ted Williams throws his bat away. It sails into the stands and hits Gladys Heffernan, the 69-year-old housekeeper of Red Sox GM Joe Cronin, in the head. She is not badly hurt, but Williams is loudly booed in his next at-bat. This incident comes less than two months after Williams incurred his second spitting-related fine in less than two years.

1975 - The Red Sox beat the Tigers 6-5, but rookie Jim Rice suffers a broken wrist when he is hit by a Vern Ruhle pitch in the second inning. He will miss the rest of the season, the ALCS, and the World Series.

I just saw The Town. Lots of good Fenway shots, especially under the seats. Loving yet not too sentimental. Affleck cannot resist reaching out to touch a plaque that reads "1912" they pass winding through the bowels of the park.

The movie is neither great nor bad. Competent direction, decent but unremarkable script. A lot of the crime stuff (especially escapes) a little hard to believe. Rent it.

Damn, clean again.It seems amazing to me that with all the injuries we have faced this year, we would still be right in the thick of a pennant chase if we had just taken care of business against the weakest teams in the league. True, we have owned the Angels at 9 - 1. And we have handled the Blue Jays and the Mariners pretty well at 12 - 6 and 7 - 3. But we are 8 - 8 vs the Orioles, 4 - 5 vs the A's, 4 - 4 vs the Indians, 3 - 3 vs the Tigers and just 4 - 3 vs the lowly Royals. All of which are teams with either sub 500 records or just barely at it. Add about 1 or 2 wins against each of those 5 and you've got a whole different standings sheet.

So, with almost 2 weeks remaining the only real suspense, barring any major meltdowns, are the AL central and the NL wildcard. Everything else is just about locked up. Unless of course you count the AL east, but I don't consider it particularily suspenseful when both teams will make the postseason regardless. Although I imagine I would feel differently if the Red Sox were vying for a division title

Correction - I misread the NL west, thinking the Giants were 5 games up. That's actually the closest race in the ML. And in that one, with the Braves holding the lead at the moment in the wild card race, it really does matter. So Zen and my son Taylor, who now lives within a couple hours of San Francisco, undoubtedly have an interest in that contest

Wow, correction #2 - the AL central is NOT suspenseful. Must have looked at the elimination column instead of games behind.That'll teach ME to come straight home from little league and try to talk intelligently instead of stopping by the bar for a few beers on the way. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again :)